The only "real choice" for voters at the forthcoming local elections is between the Conservatives and Labour, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

Speaking in Warwickshire as he launched the party's election campaign, Mr Cameron set out the three "big things" which would form the key battlegrounds for the Tories in the next two weeks.

He said the Conservatives would fight for "the services on our streets", "the pound in your pocket" and "the future of our country".

Voters go to the ballot box on May 2 to choose who will run their local councils and services, from social care to bin collections.

In a 10-minute speech to the local party faithful, Mr Cameron focused on the threat from Labour and afterwards told reporters the "real choice is red or blue" referring to a vote for Labour or the Conservatives.

Earlier, in his speech, he did not refer once to coalition partners the Liberal Democrats or Ukip.

Asked if he was worried about any predictions of a bad result for the party on election night, he said he would leave speculation to "the pollsters and pundits". There has been speculation Ukip may take a proportion of the traditional Conservative and Labour vote.

Mr Cameron said he was only interested in "fighting a positive campaign".

"The choice is between: do you want Conservative councils keeping bills down or do you want Labour to rack up your bills," he said. "That's what this election is about."

In a direct attack on Labour leader Ed Miliband's policies, Mr Cameron said "the scale of the challenge is actually laid bare today because this is the day when the leader of the Labour Party is turning left. More spending, more borrowing, more debt - that is what he's calling for, more of all of those things that got us into this mess in the first place".